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<title>Bleak November by Femme_Fatale_0335</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27564001">Bleak November</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Femme_Fatale_0335/pseuds/Femme_Fatale_0335'>Femme_Fatale_0335</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(yes i am completely out of my mind thanks for asking), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Four Seasons Total Landscaping AU, also several people either actively encouraged me to do this or didn't stop me, i lived through november 5th 2020 on tumblr and this my way of coping, replenish the Mailee tag on AO3 2020, so i'm not the only one to blame, some people?? write absurd aus?? to cope??, the only person who said anything by way of a rebuke was my friend (hi zea if you're reading this), well SOMEONE had to write it and that someone was me, who said "LUCIE NO" but still read it</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 19:48:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,101</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27564001</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Femme_Fatale_0335/pseuds/Femme_Fatale_0335</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>mai and ty lee both work at different businesses in the same strip mall four seasons total landscaping is in. each has been watching the other for some time now, trying to work up enough courage to talk to her, until a rainy day and some car trouble bring them together.</p><p>apparently "four seasons total landscaping au" is a thing now and i wanted to do the mailee version before the meme died. you have the "mailee fic writers 4 the future" group chat on tumblr to thank in part for this bc they knew i was doing this and none of them stopped me. enjoy?? i guess??</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Mai &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Bleak November</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/StopTalking777/gifts">StopTalking777</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>the only thing i have to say for myself is that i did this for the Meme™</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ty Lee wasn’t doing her job.  Instead, she was staring blankly out the window. It wasn’t because the view was particularly entrancing. If anything, the strip mall parking lot was even more depressing in the cold, pale early-morning November sunlight than it usually was. But then again, “depressing” was a concept one had to get used to when one worked in an adult bookstore in a strip mall in northeast Philadelphia. When she really thought about it, the inside of the shop was probably worse than the parking lot. At least if she stared out the window there was a chance — a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless — that she might catch a glimpse of the pretty girl with the long dark hair who worked at the crematorium two doors down. </p><p> Ty Lee had noticed the girl a few weeks earlier. Well, that wasn’t quite true. They had been classmates in high school, but they had never spoken, so Ty Lee didn’t really think that counted. They had both parked their cars in front of the building in between the crematorium and the adult bookstore. Ty Lee hadn’t really noticed the building before then. She hadn’t bothered to read the sign above its door, because why would she? But that morning, when she had looked up and read it — Four Seasons Total Landscaping. She had a vague idea that if she ever got up the nerve to talk to the girl, she would want to remember where it was she had first seen her. Of course, it wasn’t very romantic for a first meeting. Daydreaming about telling your child you met their mother in a strip mall parking lot, in front of a landscaping business, was really a little silly. But then again, everything about this situation was more than a little silly, so why not lean into it?</p><p>Mai was late for work. Truth be told, she hadn’t wanted to go at all. As much as she joked about enjoying doom and gloom, working in a crematorium was really starting to get to her. She would quit in a second if she thought she could find another job. Her alarm hadn’t gone off that morning (she wondered if she had subconsciously willed that to happen), then her car had broken down and she had had to call a taxi. The taxi had taken longer than usual, then had gotten stuck in traffic, so she had gotten out a few blocks away from her destination and walked. That was when it had started raining. The whole day was off to such a comically awful start that she didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. Probably both. </p><p>As Mai walked into the parking lot, the girl who worked in the bookstore caught her eye. She was staring out the window, presumably lost in thought. The brief glimpses she sometimes caught of that girl were the only thing Mai didn’t hate about this job. She wondered if she would ever feel brave enough to talk to her. She could have sworn she had seen the girl looking at her once or twice. But that was probably just wishful thinking. There was no way anything about this situation could be good, because… Mai cursed aloud. She had stepped in a puddle. Wet socks: that was just what she needed on a day like today. Feeling even more miserable than before, she pushed open the door of the crematorium, mentally preparing herself for a lecture from her boss. Maybe he would fire her. That would almost be a blessing. </p><p>Her boss wasn’t there, though. Only her coworker, Zuko, who smiled kindly, got her a hot cup of coffee and listened to her rant about how awful her morning had been. She was starting to feel a little better. Not good (it was near-impossible to feel good when you worked in a crematorium in a strip mall), but better. </p><p>Few people ever came into the crematorium, so that gave Mai ample time to look out the window, hoping to catch another glimpse of the girl. She had hoped Zuko wouldn’t notice, but no such luck. “What are you looking at?” he asked after a while. Startled, Mai turned around.<br/>
“Nothing?”<br/>
“Sure.”<br/>
“You don’t believe me?”<br/>
“Barely anything makes you smile, but you were smiling just now. It’s the girl at the bookstore, isn’t it?”<br/>
“What? No! I don’t like her, you like her!” He looked at her with an annoyingly superior look in his eye. “All right, fine, it is. You don’t… know her, by any chance, do you?”<br/>
“Sort of. You should, too. She went to the same high school as us. She should have been in the same graduating class as you, I think.” Now that he had said it, Mai did recognize the girl. Her name was Ty Lee, and they had been in the same math class one year. </p><p>When her shift was over, Mai realized she would have to call another taxi to get home. It was still raining, so she ducked under the awning of the landscaping business and pulled out her phone, trying to remember the number of the cab company. She was trying to figure out if it ended with 6290 or 6209 when Ty Lee came out of the bookstore and walked towards her. Mai smiled at her. “Hi,” said Ty Lee, “Mai, right?” Mai nodded.<br/>
“I noticed you walked here this morning. Can I give you a ride home?” Mai was taken aback. The girl knew her name! Was that a good sign? She didn’t know. Either way, she was all too glad to accept the offer of a ride, and not just because of the rain. “Sure,” she said, smiling, “but you have to let me buy you dinner sometime to pay you back.”</p><p>Ty Lee was overjoyed. She had made Mai smile! And Mai wanted to buy her dinner. Was it a date? Well, she might as well ask. She was feeling lucky. Mai smirked. “Of course it is. Wasn’t I obvious enough about it?” </p><p>One day someone would tell the story at their wedding, about how they had fallen in love in the rain, on a gloomy November evening, in a strip mall parking lot, in front of a landscaping business, and everyone would laugh. But for now, they drove away from Four Seasons Total Landscaping, looking forward to their first dinner date, and the next morning around eleven they would both be so lost in daydreams that they would barely notice the swarm of reporters in front of the landscaping business.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i can't believe you read the whole thing, but i also can't believe i *wrote* the whole thing so i guess we're even.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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